From Outside
by SmileyFool
Summary: I sit here, tending to my goldfish: Charles, Darcy, Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Catherine and Lydia. They were a present from a friend but I never wanted them but here I am, watching.


Title:** From Outside**

**Author's Note: I understand that this is short (it is flash fiction) nonetheless, I hope You enjoy it.  
Disclaimer: I don't own Pride and Prejudice. :) **

I sit at the table, desolate of food, as I watch the fishbowl in the centre. It is a large peculiar thing and rather unspectacular: wide middle, narrowing toward the top with a bulging brim, forming a clear central eye to the mediocre creatures within. The glass structure of the bowl obscures the sight of petite goldfish meandering about the small constraint. I watch as Jane, the veiltail goldfish with shimmering sunlit scales and flourishing dress-like fins, tails one of the younger males about the watery interior. The second goldfish is Charles and I often enjoy observing the odd innocence the two share; this time is no different. Aside from the duo, there are other goldfish that share the fishbowl. Mary, Catherine, Lydia and Elizabeth are my oranda goldfish and I like to think of them as a family of sorts. This includes Jane, of course, despite her different appearance. In the entirety of the glass bowl, there are two that I favour less than the others. Them being Darcy, the black telescope fish, and of course, Elizabeth. There is a natural disdain towards them as they swim in repeated unnecessary circles around the glass that separates them from myself. In all honesty, I wanted none of these fish. The person who gifted them to me said I would learn a thing or two from them but it is my belief that they were simply wrong. There is nothing I can learn from these creatures that do nothing but languish in a little transparent orb, believing themselves to be thriving when they have never known a day of bitter work. It is ridiculous, I should think, that my friend compared me to such things. I look outside my window, observe the cracked concrete and an abandoned sleeping bag on the filthy road. I consider leaving the confines of my home, perhaps to purchase groceries. But I realise that I have better, safer, things to do, so I remain seated by the table, criticising my fish. 

**EXPLANATION/RATIONALE**

From Outside' was inspired by the attitudes of the main characters within Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice', particularly Darcy and the Benet's families, as well as unseen classes in the novel. I am interested in the confined ways of thinking of these characters as they, particularly the women, try to thrive in the world they know — this being the upper class. As such, they have little regard for what may be considered as lesser status, as no working class is mentioned in the novel, only the profits made from them. However, as that the confines presented to them at birth, there is little for the characters to consider. This 'unseen world' of these first-class characters is what fascinated me most and became the main inspiration for the story.

'From Outside' is initially a statement to the disregard of each higher tier in class as they are seem to, analogically, "swim in repeated unnecessary circles around the glass that separates them from the world outside". Initially, the goldfish are a symbol of the higher class and the persona is a symbol a lower class however, the final two sentences of the story switches this position; the persona is no longer the lesser class but is now the higher class as the text alludes to homelessness through the "abandoned sleeping bag". The overall tone of the text is dreary but thoughtful and is written to invite reflection. Just as the narrator is ignorant of the capacity of the goldfish, being limited to "swim in needless circles" or counting pebbles, and is as seemingly ignorant of the world outside their own personal "fishbowl", the reader is invited to reflect on their own "fishbowl" that separates them from other "worlds" (alternative and possibly conflicting perspectives).

The story's use of perspective (being first person and in present tense) is used to disassociate the reader to the original characters of 'Pride and Prejudice'. Characterising the children of rich families from the novel as fish has created that, completely eradicating any of the same sense of catharsis the audience receives when witnessing of the love between Charles and Jane as well as Darcy and Elizabeth. Simultaneously, through estranging the reader to the emotions felt by these characters (as fish lack the same capacity for non-verbal communication, such as facial expressions and gestures, to a degree that the average person would have difficulty empathising), they are influenced to reflect on that unseen world from the novel, that is likely their own (anything less than the highest class). This modern setting is also what makes this story more so understandable.

**I hope this explains what I was trying to write for anyone interested. :)**  
**Have a good day and please let me know what You think in the reviews. **


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